Innisfail town council approved the closure of six undeveloped roads at its regular meeting on April 8.
Most of the road closures had originally been brought before council several months ago. Some as far back as 10 months ago, others not as long. But all six road closures have been advertised and have since been approved by the minister of transportation; therefore, allowing the town to finalize them by carrying second and third readings.
Director of planning and development Craig Teal explained the process used in all cases.
“We've identified first reading several months ago. We then advertised and in some cases we sent out letters to give people a chance to offer their input and their suggestions. In all cases we had no objections or concerns expressed,” he said.
The first road closure bylaw carried closed a .071 hectare piece of unnamed road between 46A Street Crescent and Highway 2A. The second closed a .491 hectare section of undeveloped road north of 42A Street and formerly part of 61st Avenue. The third closed a 1.5 hectare undeveloped extension of 60th Avenue that runs north through Centennial Park past the off-leash dog park toward Aspen Heights. Town council also approved the closure of a .742 hectare section between 57th Avenue and the railway directly east of the corner at 37th Street, a .076 hectare section on the south side of 36A Street and a .031 hectare section north of 42A Street between 60th and 61st Avenues.
What will be done with those parcels of land has yet to be determined. The town will decide what to do with those sites in the future.
“Once they are closed, then we will move on and decide if we are going to sell them, keep them, or build on them,” Mayor Jim Romane said.
Now that the road closure bylaws have been approved, they will have to be submitted to land titles for new titles to be generated in the town's name, Teal said.
“So that's not necessarily the end for these parcels. They are certainly out of the road system, but now we are able to deal with things be it a lease in some cases, be it a sell-off to other property owners, or be it to combine with other land and all the various forms that you may see some of these pieces of land coming back to council.”
